President Barack Obama has solidified his first-term achievements as he is attempting to lay groundwork for second-term accomplishments. While his first-term success was built on Democratic solidarity, his second-term success is contingent on making headway with Republicans in Congress.

President Obama’s reelection solidified his most important first-term social and business reforms. Health care reform and Wall Street regulation have survived partisan attempts at repeal and are becoming part of the stonework of government. State opposition to health reform’s Medicaid expansion is eroding, although one-third are unlikely to join this year. While many are unhappy with the pace of Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms, bankers” dreams for repeal, whole or piecemeal, will go unfulfilled.

President Obama is engaged again in pursuit of a Republican partner for a grand bipartisan budget bargain. Citing nearly $4 trillion in deficit reduction agreed to over the past two years, with about 80 percent from spending cuts and the rest from higher taxes on the wealthy, he is seeking agreement on $600 billion in tax reform new revenue in exchange for Medicare and Social Security restructuring to reduce future spending. While one or two Senate Republicans are enthusiastic about a deal, the outlook for widespread Republican agreement is uncertain.

Other agenda items, primarily immigration reform and closing gun purchase background check loopholes, continue to gather momentum in Congress. Overreach by liberals is the greatest threat to both initiatives.

The Week Ahead

Congress is in the middle of moving a spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year toward enactment. House and Senate budget committees plan rollouts this week of competing fiscal blueprints for next year. This week on the floor, the Senate will try to avoid a showdown over government funding for the balance of 2013. The House will debate workforce-training reforms. Accelerating his charm offensive, President Obama plans four visits to the Capitol next week.